Control
by sugah66
Summary: Taking it or losing it, it's all about control. CaRWash. Missing scene from Rio. Oneshot.


**TITLE: Control  
****AUTHOR: Sugah Sugah  
****SUMMARY: Ryan and Calleigh talk about their newest CSI.  
****SPOILERS: "Rio" 5x01  
****PAIRING: Implied CaRWash  
****RATING: T  
****DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. I am just borrowing them. Please don't sue. I'm poor.  
****AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not technically part of the Taste of Love series, but follows the canon created by those stories, so if you haven't read those, I recommend that you do. (And review! If you haven't already. I'm a review whore.)**

**For Cazzie and Spunky and Ken and gen and all the others at DLC who were whipping me until I wrote a new CaRWash fic. I told you I was waiting for S5 for inspiration! Where's the bactine?**

**Spot the _Princess Bride_ reference and win a cookie.**

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**Control**

Calleigh found Ryan in the locker room after shift. He was obviously furious, using much more vehemence than necessary to change into his "civilian" clothes. He removed his tie with such force that Calleigh was sure his throat would bruise, and his jacket was ripped off his arms hard enough to tear the seams. He sat down to change his shoes, tugging on the laces of his sneakers with a jerk that should have snapped the material in half. When he was finished, he kicked his locker shut and dropped his head into his hands.

He was such an enigma. Obsessive-compulsive, always had to be in control of a situation, but when he did lose control, he lost it completely. It was that complete loss of control that attracted her to him. Granted, he had other attractive qualities – he was intelligent and loyal, and his eyes were like the sea after a storm. But a man who could become so enraged with a lab tech that he would throw him against a wall, it spoke volumes about the passion that lay just beneath the surface. Others rarely got to see it, but Calleigh was privy to those moments. And when he lost control and got that fire in his eyes and that flush in his cheeks, it was one of the most arousing things she had ever seen.

She could clearly see the tension in his shoulders, which he tried to work out himself. He twisted his body in every direction, and he finally caught sight of her, standing in the doorway.

"Okay there, Ryan?" she asked, smiling softly. She drifted over to the bench to stand behind him and lightly placed her hands on his shoulders. She could feel the tension in his body relax a little.

He nodded, and his upper body went slack against her as he leaned into her touch. "I'm fine."

She knew him well enough to know when he was lying, and he was lying now, but she wasn't about to come out and say that. She knew why he was so upset. It wasn't like he had been subtle about it. But it was a sore subject with him, and she had to broach it cautiously. She dug into his shoulders with a little more pressure and bit her lip to hide her grin as he groaned appreciatively. She continued to massage him for a moment of two, until she felt confident enough to bring it up.

"You were a little hard on Boa Vista there, don't you think?"

He tensed under her fingers. The change was so abrupt that it startled her. "No. I don't."

She started kneading his back, hoping to relax him again. "Come on, Ryan. She's new to this. She's bound to make mistakes." He shook his head, and she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. He never could resist her when she did that. "You've made a mistake or two, if memory serves."

He gave a different kind of groan and abruptly stood. Unsure of what to now do with her hands, she let them drop to her sides. He leaned against the row of lockers and folded his arms across his chest. "I don't trust her, Calleigh. I don't want her on my team."

She moved around the bench so that she could cup his cheek. "That's not your decision to make."

He met her gaze, his eyes dark. He was wearing that look that he normally reserved for other areas of their life, and she could tell that his self-control was fading fast. "Are you telling me that you trust her?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly. "After what she did? How can you work with her?"

She sighed and moved her hand from his cheek to his chest, where she toyed with the collar of his shirt. "It's not important how I feel, Ryan. She's a CSI now – she's one of us. She deserves to be treated like one of us."

The muscles in his jaw tightened. "She deserves to be run out of town by a torch-wielding mob."

She placed her other hand on his chest and watched with delight as his breathing hitched. "Ryan," she said, infusing her voice with that warning tone she liked to use on him, "don't be like that."

There was hurt in his eyes when he spoke next. "She used me, Calleigh. She used me to get information about the lab. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

She shook her head. She knew Ryan had, in his own way, cared for Natalia. And granted, while Natalia and Ryan had been dating, Calleigh thought of all sorts of derogatory terms for their newest CSI – "the office whore" came to mind – but Boa Vista had proven herself capable, and she seemed to be trying to make amends. "No, I don't. But, babe, you've got to let go. All this anger, it's not healthy."

He smiled at her, but she could tell that his heart just wasn't in it. "I thought you liked that," he said, cocking an eyebrow.

She gave him her best scandalized expression. "You," she said, playfully slapping him on the shoulder, "are not supposed to know that."

His arms slipped around her waist, and he tugged her closer, so that she was flush against his chest. "You think I can't tell when my girl's turned on?" he asked, and there was a sparkle in his eyes that had been absent the past few weeks. He bent his head to place a kiss just below her ear, and she shivered in spite of herself.

"We're not done with this, Ryan," she said, barely able to string two words together as his talented lips moved across her throat.

"I'm done," he said as his hands slid underneath the hem of her shirt. He pulled her hips tighter against his, so that she could feel his arousal, and then he whirled them around abruptly, slamming her back against the lockers. She shivered again.

"We're in the lab." But she said it without conviction, because as embarrassing as it would be to have Eric or Boa Vista or God forbid Horatio walk in on them in this position, she definitely did not want Ryan to stop.

He smiled against her skin. "Then we'll just have to be quiet."

Damn. She really loved it when he took control.


End file.
